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3. BT broadband vs EE broadband

BT or EE... which pair of letters should you trust to deliver you the best broadband package possible? Both the telecoms giant and the relatively new player in the broadband space offer similar packages on paper, so let's break things down to see how the two actually stack up.

Whichever you decide upon, your money is more or less going to the same place anyway – BT acquired EE (itself formed through the merger of Orange and T-Mobile) in 2016, and although EE still operates as a separate provider, the two businesses are becoming increasingly intertwined, with EE even promoting BT services on its website.

Speed

EE's trio of packages offer a typical array of speed options – a basic broadband option averaging 10Mbps, with two faster fibre options averaging 36Mbps and 67Mbps. Meanwhile, BT offers four packages: 10Mbps Broadband, 36Mbps Fibre Essential, 50Mbps Fibre 1 and 67Mbps Fibre 2.

The average speeds are available to 50% of EE and BT customers, but bear in mind that other factors – such as distances to exchanges and quality of lines being used – can have a significant impact on the actual speeds you will get.

BT goes one step further by offering its Speed Guarantee to all its broadband customers, providing reassurance of a minimum speed, regardless of which package you choose.

BT has another trick up its sleeve to help swing this category in its favour, namely its Ultrafast options that are rolling out around the country. While coverage isn't widespread right now, those lucky enough to be able to get in on these Full Fibre lines can enjoy speeds up to 900Mbps.

Conclusion

When it comes to choice, BT offers a greater range of packages than EE. But if you want to go for standard broadband or fast fibre, there's nothing to choose between them in price, unless you are one of the lucky few who can get BT's Ultrafast 900Mbps service.

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Deals and packages

As mentioned, EE has three main packages. All EE bundles benefit from completely unlimited usage with no data caps or throttling, meaning you can download and stream to your heart's content. An 18-month contract is required for all EE’s broadband plans and all plans are broadband only, although you can choose to bolt on a calls package if you want to use your landline.

EE offers customers its Smart WiFi. This is comprised of a 4GEE Wifi Mini router and a booster disc that ensures you receive a strong wifi signal throughout your home. Should your broadband service go down, EE will automatically supply your 4GEE WiFi Mini with 250GB of data to keep you online until your cabled service is fixed. As a bonus, you will receive free 2GB allowance for your 4GEE WiFi Mini each month that you can also use to get online when you are away from home.

Unsurprisingly for a much larger company, BT has a somewhat wider range of packages available. In addition to the standard broadband option, there are three Fibre (previously Infinity) packages. All four packages come on a 24-month contract with unlimited usage options, and no phone line as standard. Customers wishing to use their landline can bolt on a calls package if they wish for an additional monthly fee.

BT also offers its latest speed and connectivity solution Halo 3+ as an optional extra. This includes Hybrid Connect, whereby you will be sent a second router. This Mini Hub will automatically connect you to EE’s unlimited 4G connection at no extra cost, keeping you online at all times.

Halo 3+ customers will also receive BT Complete Wi-Fi, which guarantees you a strong signal in every room of your home. You will be sent a Wi-Fi Disc, a clever device, which along with the app, ensures every room has optimal wi-fi. Plus, if one Wi-Fi Disc doesn’t do the job, BT will supply you with up to two more discs at no extra cost. If three Wi-Fi Discs still don’t do the job, you can claim £100 compensation.

In addition, Halo 3+ customers are entitled to double data on any BT mobile deal, a free upgrade to BT Full Fibre Ultrafast once it is available in your area, a valuable fixed price promise (meaning when you reach the end of your contract, your monthly fee will not increase), and the option to book BT’s Home Tech Experts to pay a visit in the unlikely event that you have any problems with your home wi-fi.

BT Halo 3+ offers a truly impressive array of services to ensure you have a completely reliable wi-fi connection, but it does come at a cost – more than double the price of the Fibre 2 service alone. However, you can also choose to sign up for individual aspects of the package for much less. Hybrid Connect alone costs an extra £7 per month, and BT Complete Wi-Fi costs an extra £10 per month.

Conclusion

There’s not a lot to choose from between the two providers when it comes to packages. BT’s Halo scheme is more comprehensive than EE’s Smart WiFi, but is considerably more expensive; EE’s offering only costs an extra tenner a month. Also, BT Halo 3+ is only available to Fibre 1 and 2 customers, whereas EE offers its Smart WiFi to all customers.

Customer service

BT doesn't exactly have the best track record in this field, but is doing respectably wellin the most recent Ofcom report with an overall customer satisfaction rating of 86 per cent, just a touch above the sector average of 85 per cent.

In comparison, EE ranked highly with 88 per cent of customers satisfied with their service, beating BT to second place overall after Plusnet. In addition, 66 per cent of EE customers were satisfied with how a complaint was handled, against just 57 per cent of BT customers, although that was still above the sector average of 53 per cent. EE also came out top with the shortest waiting time for customers calling the provider’s helpline, with just 26 seconds compared to 55 seconds for BT. Both providers fared well in this area, where the sector average was two minutes and 10 seconds.

Customer service lines for BT are open from 8am to 10pm during the week and 8am to 8pm weekends and bank holidays, while EE’s phone line is open from 8am to 9pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 8pm at the weekend. Both providers offer live chat and are also contactable via social media on Twitter and Facebook. Both BT and EE pride themselves on the fact that their call centres are all either UK or Ireland-based.

Conclusion

EE has the edge over parent company BT when it comes to customer service, with higher ratings in the most recent Ofcom survey, although BT has improved its reputation over the last few years.

Router & equipment

The standard Home Hub that you get with BT's standard broadband service might not be much to write home about, but the Smart Hub that BT provides with its fibre packages is certainly a decent little bit of kit. Boasting great wireless range and plenty of useful features, it's widely considered to be the best router bundled with any major ISP's broadband packages. In fact, BT even backs up its claims of having the best wi-fi performance by publishing its test results against its competitors' products, in which the Smart Hub comes out on top in every category.

EE offers its basic Bright Box router with its standard broadband package, which is a perfectly functional router and saves the vastly superior Smart Hub for its fibre customers. Like the BT Smart Hub, it is a dual band router with smart channel selection, four gigabit ethernet ports for wired connections and seven antennae to provide optimum wi-fi coverage.

Conclusion

There is absolutely nothing between the two providers when it comes to routers, with both providing a more basic model for standard broadband, and some top-notch tech for fibre customers needing support for a faster connection.

Extras

BT clearly takes online security seriously, with a three-pronged defence system – Parental Controls allow you to control what can be accessed online, Virus Protect covers up to 15 devices against harmful software and activity, and Web Protect offers warnings if you ever come across anything that seems fishy.

EE's comparable offerings aren't quite so robust, although you do get a year of Norton Security Premium free to protect up to 10 devices from harm. After the 12 months is up, it's £39.99 a year to continue using it, offering peace of mind for good value.

Both providers offer extras for customers who use both their broadband and mobile services. BT's takes the form of a simple £5 monthly discount on mobile plans for BT broadband users, or unlimited data on EE mobile plans if you sign up to BT Halo 3+, while EE offers its existing mobile customers both a 10 per cent discount on EE broadband and up 20GB extra free each month.

Both also offer the option to add on a landline and a calls package for customers that still lille to use a home phone.

BT has a vast network of wi-fi hotspots around the country, with more than five million available for BT customers to use while they're out and about. These hotspots are also free for EE customers to use.

There are a few other bits worth mentioning too, like free BT cloud storage of up to 1000GB (EE has this too, but only as part of its Norton Security Suite and you only get 25GB), and you'll often find other offers and add-ons will come and go, so it's worth shopping around from time to time.

Conclusion

BT edges it again thanks to a wider array of functions and features, although those who use a lot of mobile data might be better served by EE's generous data add-ons.

Overall

As one of the nation's largest and most-used broadband providers, it's no great surprise to see BT stealing the win here, especially with choice of fibre speeds and unbeatable Halo 3+ wi-fi guarantee package. BT's plentiful amounts of security software also hand it the crown.

However, EE's offerings are by no means below par – especially with the extra data boost thrown in, discounts for mobile customers, and an excellent router, so be sure to fully investigate all options before choosing your new provider.

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